Best practices for external antenna / aerial orientation on the Bolt transmitter and receiver

Bolt transmitter / TX and receiver / RX units which are capable of using external antennas or aerials (see this article) can use different antenna orientations to help performance in different environmental conditions.

These are general guidelines which apply to most setups, but you may find that a variation works better in a particular physical setup or when a Bolt set is used in combination with other equipment.

The below guidelines assume the following:

(a) the chassis of the TX and RX are mounted in the same orientation -- for example, both are mounted upright / vertical with the antenna connectors pointing up. If the Bolt chassis are mounted in different orientations, this would affect the default orientation of the antennas from the antenna connectors on each unit.

(b) omni-directional antennas are connected to the TX and RX units -- this includes the default antennas shipped with the Bolt set. If directional antennas are being used on either the TX or the RX

Clear line of sight / no obstructions between TX and RX

If the Bolt TX and RX have a clear line of sight with no physical obstructions between them, the (2) TX antennas and the (5) RX antennas should be positioned with the antennas perpendicular to the ground / horizontal plane so that they are straight up and down:

If the Bolt TX and RX have obstructions between them such as bodies or equipment, the (2) TX antennas should be positioned in a "V", and the (5) RX antennas should be positioned similar to the fingers on a hand in a splayed out fingers on a hand:

TX : \ /

RX : \ \ | / /

When using the antenna array, the TX would still have the antennas positioned in a "V" while the array would be connected to the RX.

Not recommended

It is not recommended to have the TX with (1) antenna vertical and (1) antenna horizontal at a 90 degree angle, or both TX antennas vertical and (5) RX antennas horizontal: